New beginnings :)

Can't believe that it's already been a month!

On the 20th of Jan I applied for a new job. I've spent the last few weeks in HR, interview process, clearing and orientation. I quit my old job on the 31st. Is it stressful to quit a job before you have confirmation of the new one? Of course. Especially in this economy.
But on Friday I received the call and I start on Tuesday morning :) The wait was worth it and I will have much more time on my hands to do things that I want, will be getting the same amount of hours (but better scheduled) and more pay :) Plus I wont be stressed out all the time!

Michelle's first litter is separated and growing out. There are 3 bucks and 2 does.

I have 3 litters on the ground: 6 from Cucumber (chins/sable chins), 4 from Annihilator (2 brokens, 2 charlies -- lilac somethings?), and 6 from Michelle (3 dilute (blue chins/opals?), 3 agouti). I am still attempting to get Hoover and Reflection bred ... every day. Nothing seems to work.

Shows are going to be starting up next month. First is the Myrtle Point show on March 2nd. And then Pear Blossom/Western Frontier on April 13-14. I'm not sure how it's going to work out in requesting days off or accepting bids to judge, but hopefully I will be able to attend a few shows this spring.

Happy New Year?!

I'm not even sure where last year went, but it's gone!

This year, in regards to rabbits I just hope to stay in. I'm down to 9 rabbits with a litter of 5.

I have three does bred:
Cucumber x Zachary on 12/28
Annihilator x Storm on 1/6
Michelle x Storm on 1/8

Hoping some babies will get things moving along.

First show probably won't be until March or our local show in April at best. Just isn't a great time for traveling to shows, plus there's a lack of them this time of year anyways.

Everyone is doing good, just really cold (we've had snow & freezing temps lately) and lots of work. So haven't had time to work with the rabbits or do anything fun.

Whoa!

It's so hard to believe my last post was in September!

Sept 29th was my local RVRF show, Zachary picked up 2 legs. October 21st was the TCRA show in Albany, OR. Zachary picked up another 2 legs to grand. 

Convention rabbits left for their homes at that show as well. All made it to Kansas safely. All left safely except for LHHR's Ruger Gold Label, who passed away the morning of checkout. We now have 5 babies by Michelle out of him, so we were glad we were able to get her bred to him before he left. 

Old Bat's litter, still deciding on which doe to keep. They're both very nice and only time will tell in which doe we'd like to keep for ourselves. 

Culled a few rabbits last week, not sure how many lbs we put in the freezer, but with a "freeze" in sales, it was the right decision to keep feed costs down. 

Trying to get a couple does bred this winter, tougher than it seems! 

So... just down to the 10 rabbits and the litter. Been busy working and general life stuff! 

August led into September

July & August really flew by, not sure where the time went.

Carmelizer's litter is growing up. Guido has 2 does we're growing out. Bell Pepper's litter, we kept 2 of the 5 does (and know which one we will keep), and grew out the REW buck as well but we will probably part with him.

We're going to breed 2 does next month; Bell Pepper x Zachary & Michelle x Ruger Gold Label;

Convention sales went great, we are sending 6 pre-sold to Wichita, Kansas at the end of next month. 

Labor day came & went. We skipped Crescent City show for the 2nd year in a row simply because we have nothing to show and no money. :( Our next and most likely last show of the year will be our local RVRF show in Grants Pass. Not sure what we will show yet.

*RIP* Rylee

Our beloved Rylee passed away on July 21st, 2012. She left behind a 5 week old litter by Remington. We were taken aback by her passing, because she truly was my favorite doe who brought be back from a low spot a few years ago. A back to back Best in Show, one being the West Coast Classic, was just what I needed to keep going and move forward. She is the sole reason I have colors in my herd today, because they CAN compete :) Rylee gave me 5 litters, all filled with joy. Today her GGG-babies were born by Carmelizer and Zeke. Rylee is rabbit that I will never forget for the wonderful impact she had on me, and the super sweet personality that she passed on to everyone of her offspring. :)

Babies!!!

I usually stray from summer litters, but a month ago when I bred these does the temperatures were cold and I wasn't thinking ahead... Thankfully the weather has been rather decent lately and we hope it will continue to be mild.


Yesterday, Bell Pepper continued her family tradition and gave us 10 kits, no issues, all live, two in which are REW's!

Today, Guido kindled to 4, 2 broken, 2 solid & nothing dilute :(


All we have left to kindle is Carmelizer, who is due on the 23rd.


Have picked through and sold a couple of the juniors from Kirby and Houdini. All that will be available is a SJB & a SJD from Kirby. These & the seniors we have left for sale is all we are likely to offer for Kansas.

Going to be cleaning the barn, bringing back in some cages on my days off. The barn got a little disorganized and it's our plan to fix it back the way it used to be. :)

Rest in Peace Stitch

Stitch passed away yesterday after a long life that only gave me the best. Nicole sent him my way at 10 weeks old, and by that winter he was already winning the big shows, he even traveled to Grand Rapids, MI in 2007. He produced 11 litters, that produced 11 known Grand Champions (there are more that I lost track of). 8 of 13 my current herd rabbits descend out of him & 3 of my current litters & the 2 upcoming descend out of him as well. This weekend he has GG & GGGGG children due. On the 23rd the most direct/latest will be GGG children due to Carmelizer. He will never be forgotten ♥

Kokomo *GC; 1^st Best in Show winner

Mr. Miami *GC

            Pacific Pride

                        Hades

                                    Brianna

                                                Tomato

                                                            Pickles

                                                                        Bell Pepper

                                    Matthew

                                                Hank Tank *GC

                                                            Zach

                                                            Old Bat

                                                            Houdini

Lela *GC

x Easy Summer

            Dominic – 3^rd SJB Mini Lop Nationals

                        Nemo

                                    Kirby

            Last Minute – 7^th SJD Mini Lop Nationals

x Maid Dignified

            Theodore *GC

                        Money Maker

            Titan *GC

Wall E

            Guido

                        Carmelizer (due 7/10)

Lyra

            Impulse *GC

                        Remus *GC

                                    Remington *GC         

                        Envy *GC

                                    Wyatt Earp *GC

                                                Zeke

+ several others that he studded out 

Life

Life since Oregon State ...

I had my last final of my collegiate career. I graduated on Sunday the 17th with my bachelors in Animal Science. Moved home on Monday. Had family visiting the entire week.


Rabbits....

I picked up my black doe from Lisa & bkn opal buck from Sara on Wednesday. They were picked up at Washington State Convention and brought down to Corvallis.


I sorted through Kirby & Houdini's litter & found 4 to keep from each (for now). Im going to try to not look at them for a week, and go through them again.

Bell Pepper, Guido & Carmelizer are all bred. We might hold off breeding our last 2 does until September.

Have my Convention Sales list ready & posted. Can't believe it's already that time of year!

Oregon State Convention!

60 is 40 more than 20, which is what Velotta's Twitch gained this weekend, his 60th leg. Nicole also picked up a Best in Show & Reserve in Show with her Twitch daughter, Cherie! (among many other wins). Congrats Nicole on all of your winnings!

I gained 2 legs on my Solid Jr Doe, whom I had named Zealia but became Tracy's Old Bat on Sunday. I originally had not entered her, but had a SJD scratched so thanks to Nicole for making me enter her!
Zachary was 1st in his class and received amazing comments from all judges. Natalie, placed as high as 3rd in the BJD classes but isn't as solid of a doe as I thought she was, so we are going to go with our original feeling and go ahead and sell her. She would make a great Breeding doe, or a pretty competitive show rabbit (in open), or a great Youth rabbit! Bell Pepper came as high as 2nd in her class on Sunday, but with her molt she just didn't have that icing on the cake.

Oh, other than winning.

I had a lot of FUN! I brought up some rabbits to look at since we all get "barn-blind" occasionally and I was right originally to keep Old Bat and part with Natalie. I was already getting Crush (Grizz x Danger) from Nicole, but when she looked at my Lilac GT Steel Doe she decided she wanted her :) I was going to keep her home, but I ended up bringing her because I just kept second guessing myself. But Nicole needed her more in her herd, than I needed her in mine. That's what's important, to recognize what you need to improve ;)

I ended up keeping Guido and breeding her to Remington. Remi's depth will balance out all of Guido's width, so I'm asking for a nicely typed dilute buck that carries chocolate. Wouldn't that be cool?!

Went out to dinner on Saturday, had a nice hotel to stay in that night. It seemed more pleasing than driving an hour back home to return the next morning. I chatted with breeders whom I hadn't seen in forever and met a few judges I only knew by name.


I got home pretty early on Sunday. Enough to go get hay and rabbit feed. I had 3 free bag coupons so I only paid $57 for 6 bags!!!

I bred Bell Pepper and Guido, Rylee is due on the 14th. Houdini's litter is 3 seals, 1 chin & 1 Blue chin.

I graduate on Sunday! Life sure gets interesting from here on out!

Long time, no post!

Well, it's JUNE!

I submitted my thesis yesterday. I present next Friday the 8th. After I'm done I have to jump in my car and drive to my parents house to load up the rabbits for Oregon State Convention! I'm excited!

I graduate on June 17th. It's all a scary thought, really!

Rabbits ...

I'm starting to build back up the herd. I cut down quite a bit this spring in plans for graduate school. I currently have 10 breeding/show stock, and 2 litters

Kirby has a litter of 9 (5 does, 4 bucks), all chestnut to Remington.
Houdini has a litter of 5, all solids to Remington.
Rylee is due 6/13 to Remington. She missed last go around and this is a test breeding to see if she can still produce.


I'm adding in a Blue Chinchilla Jr Buck from Nicole next weekend. He's an outcross buck, but he's out of two stunning rabbits, a DeSurra buck and Harmon doe! I also am adding another surprise coming from the WA State Convention, but I'll discuss that later.

I will be breeding Bell Pepper next weekend. To what buck is to be decided. But I won't get to any shows until the fall and I'd like to get her started right away on motherhood.

That's really about it, except that we have 5 does for sale (contact me) and a couple promising juniors that we're growing out. I'll be doing a huge barn clean/rearrangement hopefully before the end of the month.